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Cross-Cutting Themes

The Global Youth Forum will also address a number of cross-cutting themes that are relevant for all of the thematic areas listed above: just transition, participation and inclusion, education and capacity-building, means of implementation, and just recovery.
1. Just Transition aims to secure the future and livelihoods of workers and their communities in the transition toward a low-carbon economy and shift to sustainable means of production and consumption, by finding inclusive, fair, just, and long-lasting solutions without creating more challenges or widening the gap of inequality. It involves diversifying local, regional or national economies, building relevant knowledge, expertise and supply chains, providing training or skills development programmes, and offering interim support such as relocation aid and social protection.
2. Participation and inclusion of stakeholders from all levels of society is vital to tackling climate change and designing solutions. Not only are those who least contribute to global greenhouse gasses often impacted the most, they are also underrepresented in decision-making processes. Achieving inclusivity and participation is a two-fold goal: the effects of climate change on the most vulnerable populations must be minimized, and the benefits of climate action must be inclusive, with a special focus on women, indigenous people, and other marginalized groups.
3. Education and capacity-building are essential for people of all ages, especially children and youth, to raise awareness and promote action to address the wide-ranging impacts of climate change. Currently, there is limited access to innovative and effective forms of climate change education to enact change within local and global environments and communities. Capacity building is necessary to ensure that sufficient resources are allocated to train and develop the capacity of stakeholders to engage with climate action and communities in an effective and efficient object-oriented manner. Strategies to build capacity and educate can include media campaigns, programmes within schools, research, extracurricular activities, community-based projects and programmes, and training workshops and initiatives.
4. Means of implementation refers to the combination of financial resources, capacity building, and technology development and transfer as an integral part of implementing the sustainable development agenda. These key elements must be enhanced through global and public-private partnerships. Developed countries in the 2015 Paris Agreement in particular should support mitigation and adaptation efforts in developing countries by enhancing the provision of means of implementation. A transparent and accountable national enabling framework is also a key element of the means of implementation, especially in developing countries.
5. Just recovery is the process of recovering from a disaster or crisis in a just and equitable manner built on socioeconomic, gender, and environmental justice. There are a few primary principles of just recovery that include addressing the root causes of both the crisis at hand and the underlying inequalities and structural issues that worsen the effects of the crisis, redistribution of resources with a focus on supporting marginalized communities, internationalism and building collective responses to crises, strengthening democracy by empowering disenfranchised groups, self-governance on a community level, and ecological restoration. These principles will promote a recovery that ensures resilience in the face of future crises.
Knowledge Hub

The Global Youth Forum on Climate Change 2021

November 2021
Virtual Event

The Global Youth Forum on Climate Change 2021

November 2021
Virtual Event

IntroductionObjectivesThematic AreasStructure

Introduction

The first Global Youth Forum on Climate Change (GYFCC) was held in 2016. Since then, the Forum has been held consecutively for the last five years, expanding to an international event with participation from over 70 countries which provides a platform for youth to share their knowledge and propose ideas and solutions to issues related to climate change. It further supports youth by helping them develop and improve project proposals through capacity building, guided by mentors providing technical expertise. While providing a platform to network, this forum has increased youth participation in climate action connected to climate change and disaster risks, sustainable food systems, waste management, biodiversity and ecosystems, and oceans.

In November 2021, SLYCAN Trust will be launching the 6th Global Youth Forum on Climate Change. The Forum aims to bring together youth from around the world as well as foster multi-stakeholder partnerships and collaborations; to empower youth in actively taking part in climate action at the local, national, and international level by providing a platform to build capacities; to provide the opportunity for youth to engage with mentors and like-minded other youth and develop innovative solutions to chart the path toward a climate-resilient world.

Objectives

  • Facilitating youth engagement in climate-related decision-making and planning processes;

  • Supporting youth to implement and enhance climate actions on all levels;

  • Supporting youth to engage in climate- friendly, ethical, and sustainable entrepreneurship;

  • Building capacities to empower youth to implement actions and innovative solutions;

  • Identifying opportunities for youth engagement in climate policy processes, such as those related to NDCs, NAPs, and national climate policies, ensuring that the process is inclusive and participatory;

  • Gathering insights, experiences, and good practices to validate the strategy for youth in climate action and climate policy processes;

  • Sharing knowledge and best practices for youth engagement in climate action and related processes.

Thematic Areas

Climate Change and Disaster RiskBiodiversityOceans and Coastal EcosystemsSustainable Food Systems
Sustainable Food Systems

Key Focus Areas

  • Just transition in the energy sector
    - Key elements to ensure just transition in the energy sector
    - Gaps and challenges faced in integrating aspects and strategies of just transition in the energy sector
    - Institutional structures and role of actors in achieving just transition in the energy sector
    - Entry points and opportunities for integrating just transition into climate policy initiatives and actions
    - Success stories, best practices, and experience sharing on initiatives

  • Ensuring just transition in the food sector
    - Key elements of just transition and their relation to global and local food systems
    - Gaps and challenges faced in integrating aspects and strategies of just transition in the food sector
    - Institutional structures and role of actors in achieving just transition in the food sector
    - Entry points and opportunities for integrating just transition into climate policy initiatives and actions
    - Success stories, best practices, and experience sharing on initiatives

  • Gender, inclusion, social protection, and cross-cutting aspects related to just transition
    - Key cross-cutting aspects related to just transition
    - Interlinks for integration of just transition with climate action and into different climate policy and action processes
    - Impacts of COVID-19 and the role of recovery actions in contributing toward just transition
    - Success stories, best practices, and experience sharing on initiatives

In addition to these main thematic areas, the Forum has four cross-cutting issues that will receive special attention across all areas: Communication, Risk Management, Gender, and Livelihoods and entrepreneurship

Communication
Risk Management
Gender
Livelihoods and entrepreneurship

Communication plays a vital role in mobilising stakeholders to take action and enhance the understanding of climate science among different groups in society. For scaled-up climate action, it is important that effective and evidence based communication is applied, ensuring that the needs of youth and vulnerable communities are addressed and allowing for youth champions to take action to build resilience.
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The activities under the cross- cutting theme of communication aim to enhance youth participation in sharing knowledge and creating awareness on climate change by using creative modes of communications.

Climate risks have become prevalent across the world, causing negative effects on humans and animals. Climate-related disasters such as floods, droughts, landslides, heatwaves, and storms impact the livelihoods and wellbeing of people, making it vital to recognise risks in areas and to provide solutions. Actions related to risk management will need to focus on ways to minimise loss of lives, livelihoods and other socio-economic and environmental losses. In this background, it is necessary to identify the gaps in risk information, institutional capacities, early warning systems, and risk transfer mechanisms. 
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The activities under the cross-cutting theme of risk management aim to engage with youth to bring in science based knowledge to provide solutions and conduct research to identify key gaps and needs to address the issues related to climate risk management.

Climate change impacts are felt by people across the globe, but they disproportionately affect vulnerable groups such as women, idegenous communities, and the differently abled. The UNFCCC process identifies the importance of mainstreaming gender into climate change adaptation and mitigation action as well as enhancing women representation in decision-making processes.
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The activities under the cross-cutting theme of gender aim to emphasise the importance of gender considerations in activities and actions related to climate change.

Climate-related impacts pose a threat to livelihoods around the world, particularly in poor and vulnerable regions where people rely heavily on agriculture, fisheries and natural resources. As a response, tackling climate change should prioritize people's lives and livelihoods to assure that no one is left behind.

Entrepreneurship has the potential to play a significant role in the global response to climate change by innovating new technology to alleviate the effects of climate change and new business models to produce additional revenue streams. Therefore, focusing on livelihood and entrepreneurship as a cross-cutting theme is essential in order to address the relevant gaps and needs under each theme.

The activities under the cross-cutting theme of livelihoods and entrepreneurship aim to help youth in creating and engaging in ethical and climate friendly entrepreneurship and to ensure that livelihoods are taken into consideration in climate action.

Structure

The Forum will be held on a virtual platform, and participation will be based on the submission of a project proposal, based on the key thematic areas of the event. While some of the sessions will be open for all, there will be sessions which will be targeted to enhance the skills and technical capacity of those who have submitted a proposal and being selected to develop it with the contribution of others during the Forum.

Applications open November 2021